Original story

FTWorld 7.7.2012

Digimirrors hasten structural changes in Italian garment trade

The spread of digital mirrors is causing the slow death of the traditional garment store in Italian malls, and at the same time changing the entire structure of the clothing trade. *

Digital mirrors supply the exact measurements of the individual customer, on the basis of which tailor-made items can be put together cheaply and quickly by machine. This method has rapidly seized a large slice of the market formerly held by clothing stores dealing in off-the-peg items in different sizes.

The digital mirror, or “digimirror”, is a wall-mounted display unit with camera surfaces around the edges and built-in laser measuring devices. In practice, it gives the person standing in front of it an image that corresponds to the normal looking-glass, but also takes his or her precise measurements. It then shows the customer a life-sized image of himself wearing the item of clothing he has selected. When the customer has made his decision to buy, the mirror draws out the patterns for the garment according to the measurements. It also checks the price and delivery data, and asks the customer to confirm the order and the cash transfer.

The mirror can also be hooked up to any of the datanets, when it can be used to present recordings of fashion shows, and even put the user in the place of the model modelling a particular garment. Siemens-Benetton’s Distribution Director Claudia Skinner commented to the FT that cocktail parties are still important social events, just as are the traditional fashion shows, as many Italians still wish to be seen in public. She went on to say that many do still go to the traditional clothing stores, but that increasingly few are actually buying from there. “The limited range, the hit-and-miss fittings of readytowear items, high warehousing overheads, and the large wastage in fabrics have all contributed to an image of poor service and inflated prices”, she said.

Skinner believes that the real breakthrough for the digimirrors came when they were fitted with samples from thousands of fabrics and patterns. The company also improved its software so that the mirror now shows how the chosen fabric hangs in use, standing or sitting, and how the colour looks and reflects under different lighting conditions. Already as many as one in five Italian households have digital mirrors installed, and they have also been fitted in communal areas in many modern apartment blocks. Several community centres and halls also offer the service on a rental basis. In private homes, the digimirror has often also been conveniently converted to work as an additional screen for the family vidiphone or multivision systems.

Sales through traditional clothing shops have fallen during the first half of the year by as much as a third from 2011 figures. Many stores are also reporting heavy losses. The import of ready-made garments from abroad is also down sharply. The advent of the digimirrors has not, however, had any adverse effects on the domestic Italian clothing industry, as companies have almost without exception gone over to digi-compatible automated manufacturing methods.

Hannula I. & Linturi R. 1998: 100 Phenomena. Yritysmikrot Oy, Helsinki 1998. Copyright notices ISBN 952-9508-18-2

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